Passenger vehicles are normally equipped with a rear vehicle compartment for storing a spare tire and transporting items such as groceries and luggage. The compartment, conventionally known as a trunk is closed by a deck lid that is hinged to the vehicle body and swings open to provide access to the compartment. The closure or deck lid is equipped with a compartment latch that cooperates with a striker attached to the vehicle body to latch the closure in the closed position automatically when the deck lid is closed.
In order to open the deck lid, the compartment latch is conventionally designed to be unlatched or opened from a position outside the compartment because the compartment is not designed to hold passengers.